Colombia as a Potentially Safe and Prosperous Country
Colombia has been a country of turmoil and unrest for most of its existence. Due to the fact that there are so many regions and each region being in control of itself and not having much to do with the other region, the unrest has been difficult to manage. From a business standpoint, there has not been much going on with the outside world until the early to mid-20th century. It was during this time period that there was a unification of sorts for these regions and they came together for business and trade.
According to Carlos Davila, in his book on Business History in Colombia (1999), Colombia has always been a rustic of regions. which means that every region or locality has had its own set of rules that they govern themselves with. “In fact, the primary few decades of the 20th century helped lay the inspiration of political integration of a national state” (Davila, 1999). This has led to the evidence that Colombia has realized that there’s indeed a world apart from their own where they will trade and enjoy.
According to the author of the article ‘Overseas Business Risks-Colombia’ (2018), Colombia has suffered from an enclosed conflict for over 50 years. This arose when left-wing groups took to armed struggle within the mid-1960s. The foremost well-known of those groups is the Revolutionary Militia of Colombia (FARC), the oldest guerrilla group within the world. However, there are more illegal groups during these years, most of which have disappeared. These groups represented each side of the political spectrum. From the left-wing came the M-19 group, the People’s Liberation Army (EPL) and also the National Liberation Army (ELN), the latter being the sole illegal organized group remaining. From the right-wing, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) emerged during the 90s, promoted mainly by large landowners to counter the left-wing illegal guerrillas. This group demobilized in 2006.
In terms of FDI, Colombia received USD 13.9 billion during 2017 and consistent with official forecasts, the ultimate estimation for 2018 would be around USD 13.7 billion, decreasing 1.6%. By sectors, the mining industry got 29% of the FDI, being 23% exclusively for the refining industry. The transport sector got 23% and also the manufacturing sector 18%. By country, the most sources of FDI were Spain (19%), the United States (16%), Mexico (11%), Panama (10%) and also the United Kingdom (9%). Colombia has the very best number of customs-free zones within the region with 108 zones operative, which is 25% of the customs-free zones in geographic region (‘Overseas Business Risk-Colombia’, 2014). Furthermore, Colombia includes a system of ‘legal stability contracts’ for giant investors that permits companies to repair certain aspects of an investment (such as tax rates) during a determined period. Finally, the post-conflict environment encourages FDI focused on infrastructure, agricultural industry, renewable energies, and tourism. “The country as an entire has also experienced significant economic growth” (Velasco, 2014)
Colombia is seeking to boost its cybersecurity sector, including deterring criminal organizations from attacking strategic assets. It’s commencing to implement its cyber study, COMPAS 3854, oriented towards the event of a national strategy to counter the increased cyber threat. This is often led by the President’s Office in coordination with the Ministry of Defense and also the Ministry of Knowledge and Communication Technologies.
In the coming years, two factors could propel Colombia’s continued development. One of them is the Pacific Alliance, which also includes Mexico, Peru, and Chile. Firms learn to export new products by selling them in regional markets. But, in South America, the rhetoric of trade integration has often been stifled by the cruel reality of protectionism. Fortunately, with the consolidation of a free-trade bloc among the Pacific Rim countries – home to 215 million people and accounting for 37% of Latin America’s GDP – this is often changing. The second factor – which has yet to arrive – in peace, within the kind of an explicit cessation of hostilities with FARC. This is often not the primary time that talks are suspended, and it would not be the last. But never before have negotiations progressed to date, reaching substantial agreements in several areas.
Nothing is more important than building a Colombia where citizens now not fear being caught in a very hail of bullets or being dragged from their homes within the middle of the night. At the identical time, one shouldn’t underestimate the economic dividend of peace, which economists in Bogotá have estimated could boost GDP growth by the maximum amount jointly decimal point annually for a decade or more.
A quarter-century ago, a secure and prosperous Colombia seemed impossible. Yet it’s now close by. At a time of intensifying political conflict and painfully few success stories, Colombians are giving the globe reason for hope.